Whether you’re DEMOing or watching, some links and key ideas for pitching.
***UPDATE: WebInno presenters and attendees, this means you too!***

Stay within the six minutes by focusing on what’s most exciting to THEM and by ending with what you want them to DO. Don’t try to show or tell all you possibly can. It’s never about tonnage. It’s about leverage. It’s the compelling core idea.

What is the point of being at DEMO? What is the ACTION you could stimulate? What do you want the audience (both there and remote) to actually DO when you finish? (stuff like: try out the product, tell someone else about it, blog that it’s a great thing, whatever…) Have a clear objective.

For those about to pitch, we salute you:

10 pitching rules to break
10 tips for pitching
Body language cheat sheet
Nail the “ah-ha moment”
Name who you help & how
Who & how part 2
Apply the “which means that” razor

• Think about the audience’s motivations, needs and interests. Connect and resonate with these needs when you demo.
• The pitch itself is never the ends (I did “great,” but so what?). It’s a business tool. To accomplish something.
• Focus on what you want to accomplish, and have a clean ending that leaves that thought in their heads, preferably 20-30 seconds BEFORE time is up, so your last words can settle in.
• Maybe the goal is to get them to come to you for a full product demo. Tell them that. Say “come to me for a full product demo.” If your 6 minute pitch touches a nerve with their interests and motivations, they will. But don’t leave it to chance.
• Don’t think that just by showing them “interesting” and “exciting” and “good enough,” they will figure out what they should do next to engage with the idea.

If you only have time to read one post, this one’s lightning fast and universally useful.

SCORECARD: Using the ideas above, tell us how DEMO pitches you saw stacked up. Who left money on the table? Who swatted it out of the park? What one thing would have made the most difference across many pitches? You can use the top 10 lists as “scorecards.”

(Inspired by Twittering with @loiclemeur this morning.)

Rick Segal spotted this gem by Stanley Bing.

Marc Andressen continues to thwack it out of the park with a few more thought-provoking entries on VC:

The PMarca Guide to Startups, part I: Why NOT to do a startup

Navigating an asteroid field is evidently quite tricky.

But seriously, you have to be ok with the overwhelming likelihood of failure. Not because anyone’s mean or against you. Not because it can’t be done. But because the odds are (again) overwhelmingly against you. If you know that and it’s still crucial to go for it, have at it.

For all the successful tech companies that made bazillions, there are bazillions who made nothing. Call it the long tail of startup failure. It happens everywhere: professional sports (sure Pedro makes ga-millions, but ga-millions of players never even make the minors), real estate investing (don’t get me started about “experts” who make all their money teaching others. If real estate’s so easy, why not teach others for a small cut of what they earn, instead of cash upfront? Some will make a lot, many will make nothing or lose money), network marketing, etc. etc. etc.

I ‘m not saying don’t try, I’m saying don’t be a dumbass naive about what you try to do.

The PMarca Guide to Startups, part II: When the VCs say “no”

ROTFL:

Being told “no” by VCs in 1999 is a lot different than being told “no” in 2002.

If you were told “no” in 1999, I’m sure you’re a wonderful person and you have huge potential and your mother loves you very much, but your plan really was seriously flawed.

If the layers of an onion are the layers of risk for your newco:

The whole theory of venture capital is that VCs are investing in risk — another term for venture capital is “risk capital” — but the reality is that VCs will only take on so much risk, and the best thing you can do to optimize your chances of raising money is to take out risk.

Peel away at the onion.

It can be difficult. It can sting. It can even make you cry.

Bonus: Also funny (from a link embedded in PMarca Part I)

Starting a business? Go subscribe to Marc Andreessen’s feed. Now.

So, you’re an entrepreneur. And you think you want Venture Capital. Because, you’re a venture. And you need capital. Right?

Marc Andreessen, stepping profoundly onto the blogging stage just this past week, has written an eloquent pair of posts on the truth about venture capitalists. Read Part 1 here and Part 2 here. The posts are thorough, candid and really, in a way, quite lovely in their honesty. He presents some simple and important insights about VC that any entrepreneur should consider before deciding that VC is their best capital development strategy.

There are so many misconceptions among entrepreneurs. I’ve even seen ‘us’ & ‘they’ mentalities, and a skewed focus on “getting VC investment” as the win. Um, starting and running a profitable company? That is the actual “win”? There are things that Venture Capital is good for, and others that it is not. No harm, no foul.

If you’re pursuing Venture Capital to finance your startup, then reading these posts is mandatory “understand your audience” homework.

Marc’s unblinking honesty is refreshing and educational, and is an absolute must read for anyone immersed in the capital development process. This entire passage on why a VC may turn you down, and what you can learn if many do, is just great (my emphasis added):

One, she can’t see the leverage — she can’t see you getting to a sale or IPO with a credible prospect of a 10x return within 4 to 6 years. If she can’t see this, and 10 of her peers at other firms can’t see it, then you may want to revisit your fundamental business model assumptions and try to understand what’s missing.

Remember, it’s in her best interest to see the full potential in your business — she is looking for high-potential startups in which to invest.

Two, she thinks that what you’re doing is too early or unproven.

This is the one that drives entrepreneurs nuts. Isn’t the whole point of venture capital to make risky investments in unproven technologies and markets?

Unfortunately, that’s life — sometimes things are simply too early for venture capital. In that case, develop your idea further with bootstrap or angel funding and then take it back to the VCs later with more proof points.

Three, she isn’t convinced that you’ve assembled the right team to go after the opportunity. This usually means she doesn’t think your technical founder(s) are strong enough, or she doesn’t think your founding CEO is strong enough. Again, it’s in her best interest to see the potential in the team if it’s there — so if she and 10 of her peers pass on your startup because of concerns about the team, then you may want to rethink your team.

Guys, when the fit is right, they can actually be on your side…

Finally, keep in mind:

A venture capitalist’s ideal investment is the one that would be a huge success without her.

Before you spend a lot of time and energy lining up meetings with prospective investors, be clear: Do you really need venture capital? Do Venture Capitalists need you? If both are truly a “yes” your job just got much easier. If you even think either might be a no, now would be a good time to rethink your strategy…

Attention (non-stealth) startups! Go check out Vator.TV (”the YouTube for entrepreneurs”) and then start working on a pitch for it. Is the Angel you dream of going to find you this way and end all your money problems? Yeah, right. But even if nobody ever *found* you there, this is a great chance to nail your pitch.

1. Keep it short and rock their interest (read yesterday’s post and especially the Update #2 link!).

2. Once your pitch is up, send links to interested people for some quick 411 on your deal.

3. Take a good look at what is already on the site, especially in your “space,” to get tight on what works and what does not.

4. Tag your post well so it gets FOUND.

5. Do NOT let your post go stale. When your pitch gets better, re-post, and continue to improve.

BONUS: Send advisors, investors, mom, etc. the link to your pitch and ask them for feedback!

Tip o’ the pitch podium to Tony Hung of DJI

Going after VC? “Must-read” posts from Attorney/former VC Suzie Dingwall Williams at Venture Law Lines and Rick Segal at Post Money Value:

Why VCs Take Meetings; The “Great Meeting” With Money

Why’d you get the meeting? Fine-tune your objective, and ergo, your pitch.

Notice how little they talk about your company’s story, and how much they talk about your audience. Be smart about this to use even throwaway “favor” meetings to your advantage (or to skip un-strategic ones). Suzie:

Many of these meetings resulted in longer term relationships, even if our interest was not in making an investment. Good business development? Yes. But a useful part of your search for near term money? Probably not.

Rick’s gem:

Prepare, practice, rinse -n- repeat. And here’s a tip if you really want to do extra credit homework: Speak to people who have pitched and gotten a formal no. Ask them about the experience as that data is even more telling then the funded CEO who is (duh) singing the high praises of the VC firm.

Both Rick and Suzie will talk VC Pitching at MESH tomorrow. Watch this space for more…

Check out Ben Casnocha’s new book, My Startup Life.

The more I read Ben’s ideas and see what he puts into things, the more I believe Chris Sacca’s (Google) blurb for the book — that sooner or later we’re all going to work for Ben.

This book will be big. Be the first in your office to read it and be part of its success by buying it on day one (Monday, May 21).

I’m looking forward to reading the book, and personally recommend it to anyone who wants to become an entrepreneur or just be CEO of their own life. If you’re on the fence read these. You can also read an excerpt here or listen to interview podcasts here. And if you don’t want to take my word for it, read Auren Hoffman’s.

UPDATE: …or Jeff Nolan’s …or Kavit Haria’s …or his guest column at Brazen Careerist. Even Valleywag bothered to snit about it, and since they’re always nasty, their wag is its own endorsement. And if you’re still on the fence, go do some competitive haikuing for a signed copy from Ben via Brad & Amy Feld.

I just bought my copy.

Get to the point. Or else.

Lotsa bloggers been declaring “email bankruptcy” lately, deleting wholesale their inbox contents and publicly announcing that anyone with an important, recent email should just send it again.

Cool idea.

But it’s my blog bookmarks folder that’s outta hand. Call this is horrible, lazy blogging, but I’m doing it anyway. I’m declaring Blog Link Bankruptcy. Below is my current backlog of presentations links to blog about. Someday I will explain the more important ones, but I need this clean break for the moment… Call it trying to be less of a perfectionist.

On Presenting Well:
• Presentation Zen: The “Lessig Method” of presentation
• Ben Casnocha: The Blog: Physical Exhaustion
• Create Your Communications Experience: Five Key Principles to Great Communicating
• Power Presentations: Blaming the Pen Again
• cazh1: on Business, Information, and Technology: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Powerpoint
• Presentation Zen: Is it finally time to ditch PowerPoint?
• Presentation Zen: Is it broken?
• Presentation Zen: PowerPoint: sometimes you have to laugh to keep from crying
• This one appears again under social web below, but the principles in her “proverb” are critical to great presentations!!!
• The Guardian Posts “best ever” speeches list (as mentioned on Tom Peters’ blog)VC/Startups/Entrepreneurs/Pitching:
• Who Has Time For This?: Startup Stuff For Entrepreneurs
• Boing Boing: HOWTO make a VC pitch in PowerPoint
• VentureBlog: Presenting Your Company
• VentureBlog: The Dos and Don’ts of Presenting at DEMO
• Ask the Wizard: Pitching Your Company
• Allen Morgan’s Pitching Tips for Entrepreneurs
• Feld Thoughts - The Torturous World of Powerpoint
• VC Adventure: Putting together a good venture presentation
• How to Change the World: The Entrepreneur’s New Year’s Resolution: “I Will Fix My Pitch”
• Who Has Time For This?: Practicing the Art of Pitchcraft
• Presentations that DO NOT Mean Business
• Are We Wasting $250 Million per Day Due to Bad PowerPoint?
• Seth’s Blog: Worst powerpoint slide ever used by a CEOSweller/Cognitive Load Theory:
• (People have been talking about the professor from New South Wales who is said to have recently dissed PowerPoint. He’s got some cool research, and I am working through some primary sources to interpret ideas to share with you here, stay tuned.)load.pdf (application/pdf Object)The Social Web: (”2.0?” I don’t like the term. The evolution of the web is neither discrete nor staged. I really see all this as “the web as it was meant to be/as it is becoming/as it will become”)
• YouTube - Web 2.0 … The Machine is Us/ing Us Freaking brilliant must-watch video
• Micro Persuasion: Irrational Exuberance 2.0
• Blogging Starter Checklist on Squidoo
• Blogging essential for a good career

Check out the new TED.com for some amazing presentations. If you haven’t heard of the TED conference before, here is your chance to play with the ideas presented by a select group of presenters to the exclusive invitee list. They range from silly-brilliant (don’t miss Ze Frank) so earth-moving (numerous world leaders have presented at the conference. You can view “TEDTalks” at their website and on YouTube.
TED Blog: The New TED.com launches today Monday April 16th

TED Blog: New TED.com and TED’s June Cohen featured in today’s New York Times

And many of the talks are already on YouTube:

(nod of thanks to Seth Levine, Gordon Whyte and David Teten for blogging about these tip sheets when I first put them on my site)

1. Don’t say “Um.” Look, don’t freak out over bad verbal habits. Minimize them, but trying too hard can blow your cool.

2. One slide per minute. If you have even close to that we’ll hit you. You shouldn’t have anywhere near that many. Unless you know what you’re doing.

3. Memorize your speech. Recital is not effective communication

4. What you say is just 7% of your credibility. Whomever told you that owes you every penny you paid them.

5. Use your full time slot. Quality, not quantity. Be succinct. Be alluring. Make them want to follow-up.

6. End with a summary slide. End by encouraging the next steps in the process.

7. Speak up. Make yourself heard, but more importantly vary your tone, speed, volume & inflection to maintain audience attention.

8. Start by introducing yourself. You just got introduced. Open with some drama (or at least excitement) and get right to the “ah-ha.”

9. Answer every question they might possibly have. Aim to be complete, but don’t overkill. Your pitch is like an executive summary.

10. Sum the years’ experience on your team. 40+ years, wow! Does that mean 10 schmucks with 4 years’ each or 3 with 13 1/3?

11. Make your pitch into a story. “Story” is a hot right now, but be judicious. Don’t just string stories together or be contrived, use 1 (maybe 2) and use other techniques too, like comparisons to convey unfamiliar material in terms of something listeners already understand. (Oh and as always, give something extra)